There has been a mass outpouring of grief and anger over the death of the 23-year-old woman who died after suffering a senseless, horrific gang-rape on a bus in India nearly two weeks ago. Six people who have been accused of the rape and murder could face the death penalty.

Should the attackers suffer the death penalty? And, if they were put to death, would this be a strong enough warning to other potential rapists to keep them from harming other women?

If the rapists were instead given life sentences, what sort of lives would they have in an Indian prison?

A little research has shown that India's prisons date back to the British colonial era, and there has been no prison reform since 1920. As you might expect, India's prisons are crumbling buildings housing thousands of prisoners in appalling conditions.

Attackers assaulted the woman and her male companion on a bus December 16, robbing them of their belongings before dumping them at the side of a road, police said. Six suspects are now under arrest, including the bus driver and a minor

Beliefnet Community Wide Moderator ~ Peace Love Stardove

People change for two main reasons: either their minds have been opened or their hearts have been broken.---Anonymous

Would be nice to have these rapists serve the family of the woman they murdered. Surely this is more productive than death penalty or prison. But that would mean the public would be placed at risk for a repeat rape or other crime by these rapists should the opportunity present itself. Is this worth it?

Perhaps their sentence should be to spend all their waking hours actively working to eradicate all violence against women. Not sure how that would be enforced or again, how to make sure they don’t harm more women, as this means they would be working among the general public.

I confess that I care little for what happens to these individuals, beyond the point that if I lived in India, the one thing I would not wish to see is them walking the streets ever again.

But beyond the case of these men, the appalling thing once again is the continuing open disregard for women in South Asia. There was another case in India I read about over the weekend, where a young girl was raped, reported it, was demeaned and humiliated by the police, and committed suicide.

One would hope that, as with the case of Malala Yousufzai in Pakistan, this case will serve as a wakeup call for those societies. This Indian case has already sparked mass protests.